Ever since I started working on our family scrapbooks this year (see my first album here) I've been pretty obsessed with figuring out how I can make it work for me. Scrapbooking is a hobby, so if I'm going to do it I want to both enjoy the process and love the finished albums. If not, what's the point— right?

And you know what? I think I finally cracked the code!

For me, photography is the most important part of a scrapbook. I want photos to be 90% of what you see as you flip through our family albums. So I've been sketching out ideas for how to make pages that are photo-focused. Today I want to share six easy ideas for layouts I made using photos as the base for the page. These pages are full of personality and tell a story, and they were super easy and uncomplicated to create. Win-win.

It only took me a couple hours to print these photos and make six pages! One sitting. This is key for me, because the other thing I really want out of scrapbooking is complete albums ... and I have a LOT of photos waiting in folders on my computer. Speed isn't the only thing that matters, but it does matter to me because I am looking forward to adding more albums to our shelves in the near future, and free time isn't exactly one of my assets right now.So here's how I started: I sized six photos I love (all outtakes from our upcoming book shot by Janae Hardy) to 8.5" x 11" (the size of my album). I put two photos each on my 13" x 19" paper and printed them on my Canon PRO-100 printer. Then I just trimmed them and I was ready to go! For this first page I cut a circle from my photo, covered it from behind with a piece of scrapbook paper, and added cut-up sticker letters and a stamp to note the season and year. I am THE WORST at thinking of witty little titles for my scrapbook pages, so I tend to keep them pretty simple. For this next page I used a pattern stamp to create a border on one side of the photo. I added Penelope's name with chipboard letter stickers and handwrote her age at the bottom of the page. This photo makes me die a little. I love that kiddo so much. For this next page I used some washi tape to create a broken line down one side of the page. Using a stencil, I did a messy trace of a circle and added some stickers and cut-up journaling down the side of the page for a little extra detail. This is Suki's big moment. Look how cute! For this page I stamped my title in the natural white space and did some handwritten journaling with a permanent pen. I'll probably pair this page next to a page with a bunch of home photos collaged together. Oh yes—I decided to make a whole album about our home renovation process. I think it'll be Jeremy's favorite thing because it's been such a big part of our life (and our free time) these past few years. Eeep! That's my husband holding a baby. Is there anything cuter? (answer—no) I thought it might be fun to have this random page in our Volume 3 Book (third year of marriage) about how we started to talk babies. This design is real simple, just a quick little title and bit of journaling. This was my favorite photo that Janae took when we were shooting the home book. She made me promise to frame it in the house. I totally will. (Another Suki moment.) This reminds me—I can't wait to put that hammock back out!

So, I kept this page super simple. I didn't want to take much away from the photo since it's a favorite. So I stamped along the bottom and added a real small handwritten date. Simple, easy, and I totally love it! I love making these pages. I'll probably continue on with a pretty high ratio of full-page photos just because I love how they look in the album. They really add a lot of energy and personality to the overall feel of the album.

Next I'll share some ideas for packing a whole bunch of photos on pages. I love that look too!

Full-Page Photo Scrapbook Ideas

Ever since I started working on our family scrapbooks this year (see my first album here) I've been pretty obsessed with figuring out how I can make it work for me. Scrapbooking is a hobby, so if I'm going to do it I want to both enjoy the process and love the finished albums. If not, what's the point— right?

And you know what? I think I finally cracked the code!

For me, photography is the most important part of a scrapbook. I want photos to be 90% of what you see as you flip through our family albums. So I've been sketching out ideas for how to make pages that are photo-focused. Today I want to share six easy ideas for layouts I made using photos as the base for the page. These pages are full of personality and tell a story, and they were super easy and uncomplicated to create. Win-win.

It only took me a couple hours to print these photos and make six pages! One sitting. This is key for me, because the other thing I really want out of scrapbooking is complete albums ... and I have a LOT of photos waiting in folders on my computer. Speed isn't the only thing that matters, but it does matter to me because I am looking forward to adding more albums to our shelves in the near future, and free time isn't exactly one of my assets right now.So here's how I started: I sized six photos I love (all outtakes from our upcoming book shot by Janae Hardy) to 8.5" x 11" (the size of my album). I put two photos each on my 13" x 19" paper and printed them on my Canon PRO-100 printer. Then I just trimmed them and I was ready to go! For this first page I cut a circle from my photo, covered it from behind with a piece of scrapbook paper, and added cut-up sticker letters and a stamp to note the season and year. I am THE WORST at thinking of witty little titles for my scrapbook pages, so I tend to keep them pretty simple. For this next page I used a pattern stamp to create a border on one side of the photo. I added Penelope's name with chipboard letter stickers and handwrote her age at the bottom of the page. This photo makes me die a little. I love that kiddo so much. For this next page I used some washi tape to create a broken line down one side of the page. Using a stencil, I did a messy trace of a circle and added some stickers and cut-up journaling down the side of the page for a little extra detail. This is Suki's big moment. Look how cute! For this page I stamped my title in the natural white space and did some handwritten journaling with a permanent pen. I'll probably pair this page next to a page with a bunch of home photos collaged together. Oh yes—I decided to make a whole album about our home renovation process. I think it'll be Jeremy's favorite thing because it's been such a big part of our life (and our free time) these past few years. Eeep! That's my husband holding a baby. Is there anything cuter? (answer—no) I thought it might be fun to have this random page in our Volume 3 Book (third year of marriage) about how we started to talk babies. This design is real simple, just a quick little title and bit of journaling. This was my favorite photo that Janae took when we were shooting the home book. She made me promise to frame it in the house. I totally will. (Another Suki moment.) This reminds me—I can't wait to put that hammock back out!

So, I kept this page super simple. I didn't want to take much away from the photo since it's a favorite. So I stamped along the bottom and added a real small handwritten date. Simple, easy, and I totally love it! I love making these pages. I'll probably continue on with a pretty high ratio of full-page photos just because I love how they look in the album. They really add a lot of energy and personality to the overall feel of the album.

Next I'll share some ideas for packing a whole bunch of photos on pages. I love that look too!

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Full-Page Photo Scrapbook Ideas

Ever since I started working on our family scrapbooks this year (see my first album here) I've been pretty obsessed with figuring out how I can make it work for me. Scrapbooking is a hobby, so if I'm going to do it I want to both enjoy the process and love the finished albums. If not, what's the point— right?

And you know what? I think I finally cracked the code!

For me, photography is the most important part of a scrapbook. I want photos to be 90% of what you see as you flip through our family albums. So I've been sketching out ideas for how to make pages that are photo-focused. Today I want to share six easy ideas for layouts I made using photos as the base for the page. These pages are full of personality and tell a story, and they were super easy and uncomplicated to create. Win-win.

It only took me a couple hours to print these photos and make six pages! One sitting. This is key for me, because the other thing I really want out of scrapbooking is complete albums ... and I have a LOT of photos waiting in folders on my computer. Speed isn't the only thing that matters, but it does matter to me because I am looking forward to adding more albums to our shelves in the near future, and free time isn't exactly one of my assets right now.So here's how I started: I sized six photos I love (all outtakes from our upcoming book shot by Janae Hardy) to 8.5" x 11" (the size of my album). I put two photos each on my 13" x 19" paper and printed them on my Canon PRO-100 printer. Then I just trimmed them and I was ready to go! For this first page I cut a circle from my photo, covered it from behind with a piece of scrapbook paper, and added cut-up sticker letters and a stamp to note the season and year. I am THE WORST at thinking of witty little titles for my scrapbook pages, so I tend to keep them pretty simple. For this next page I used a pattern stamp to create a border on one side of the photo. I added Penelope's name with chipboard letter stickers and handwrote her age at the bottom of the page. This photo makes me die a little. I love that kiddo so much. For this next page I used some washi tape to create a broken line down one side of the page. Using a stencil, I did a messy trace of a circle and added some stickers and cut-up journaling down the side of the page for a little extra detail. This is Suki's big moment. Look how cute! For this page I stamped my title in the natural white space and did some handwritten journaling with a permanent pen. I'll probably pair this page next to a page with a bunch of home photos collaged together. Oh yes—I decided to make a whole album about our home renovation process. I think it'll be Jeremy's favorite thing because it's been such a big part of our life (and our free time) these past few years. Eeep! That's my husband holding a baby. Is there anything cuter? (answer—no) I thought it might be fun to have this random page in our Volume 3 Book (third year of marriage) about how we started to talk babies. This design is real simple, just a quick little title and bit of journaling. This was my favorite photo that Janae took when we were shooting the home book. She made me promise to frame it in the house. I totally will. (Another Suki moment.) This reminds me—I can't wait to put that hammock back out!

So, I kept this page super simple. I didn't want to take much away from the photo since it's a favorite. So I stamped along the bottom and added a real small handwritten date. Simple, easy, and I totally love it! I love making these pages. I'll probably continue on with a pretty high ratio of full-page photos just because I love how they look in the album. They really add a lot of energy and personality to the overall feel of the album.

Next I'll share some ideas for packing a whole bunch of photos on pages. I love that look too!